GlobalPatentProsecutionHighwayPilotProgram.doc

Global Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program: Requirements and Procedures Background The Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) is a pilot program between nineteen patent offices who have adopted common procedures to accelerate examination of qualifying applications. The GPPH supersedes previous agreements between IP Australia and the USPTO. The following patent offices are participating in the program: Office of Earlier Examination International Authority Austrian Patent Office Yes Canadian Intellectual Property Office Yes Danish Patent and Trademark Office No National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland Yes Hungarian Intellectual Property Office No Icelandic Patent Office No Intellectual Property Office of Singapore No Israel Patent Office Yes Japan Patent Office Yes Korean Intellectual Property Office Yes Nordic Patent Institute Yes Norwegian Industrial Property Office No Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property No Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property Yes Spanish Patent and Trademark Office Yes Swedish Patent and Registration Office Yes United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office No United States Patent and Trademark Office Yes Under the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) pilot you are entitled to request expedited examination for your Australian (AU) application in instances where an associated application has been examined by one of the patent offices participating in the program. These offices are known as Offices of Earlier Examination (OEE). Examination by an OEE under their national law is known herein as the GPPH program, whilst work carried out by the OEE under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is also included and referred to herein as the PCT-GPPH program. This document details the requirements your AU application must meet and filing procedures that you will need to follow to participate in the GPPH or PCT-GPPH programs in Australia. Requirements To participate in the GPPH pilot at I